Looking for an ultra tiny, ultra low power solution for PFSense. I understand the rasberry pi won’t work so I’m exploring other solutions and figured I’d drop a line here to see what people have out there. I have a computer I’ve been considering dropping a second NIC into and using that, but the power is too high to justify it. What solutions do yall have?
I have an ultra SFF dell computer I could us, but does PFSense play well with USB 3.0 NICs?
If you check out the old pfsense video i think they link some cool embedded options with expandability like wifi.
I think the alix board is still available for purchase, got one of the older models with a 500MHz CPU and 256MB of RAM iirc. It still works beautifully.
That's what it was.
Another option could be an intel stx board thougj not sure what configs are available.
Another user has an AM1 based pfsense box as well, that platform is cheap and some mobos have DC power in so you could use a brick psu
Those look like good solutions.
Any idea of the USB 3.0 NIC adapter for this? I have some i5 workstations that are retired I could use for this with the only cost being the NIC. I'd like to use that as my primary goal atm.
Ah sorry, reading comprehension not so great.
A quick search shows usb nics aren't very reliable but ive got no experience.
If your ultra sff has mini pcie you could use one of these
Yeah I'm finding that was well but I"m digging around trying to see what I can find about it. I'll look into that PCI solution... that's a clever solution to that.
That's cool but he is looking to use the hardware he's got.
IMO, @Yockanookany, the cost of running your larger machine as pfsense box is probably negligible.
Ahhh, missed that :P And you are probally right. I calculated the difference between something like was i linked and using an old computer. Think it would take 4 years where i live for the smaller powersaving box to be cheaper. And at that point i dont know if it would be worth it
Meh you're probably right. The difference is a full desktop i5 vs a dual core laptop i5, DDR4 vs DDR3L, and smaller fans and such. I think the USFF is like 120 watts drawing like 60 watts, where the full desktop is 300 watt PSU drawing, probably, 90 watts.
Space is a bit of a concern though. I could just throw the USFF in with my file media server area (another one of those computers) but I could figure something out with the big one as well I'm sure.
Edit: Went ahead and bought the PCI-E NIC for the larger box.
@moderators (is this working again?) you can lock this thread.
I would go usff just for space, its so much more important.
If you don't have a suitable old PC to use, you probably can't build one for cheaper than what an official pfSense appliance would cost you ... and they come with a support contract!
If you do locate a suitable PC, do yourself a favor and get real Intel NICs. Dual and quad port NICs can be found for cheap, from decommissioned servers.
You might want to check this out if you want an ultra tiny pfSense box
SG-1000 microFirewall
It's going for about $149
Also, have a look here if you haven't yet
https://corpshadow.biz/bizstore/
My pfsense box is an underclocked Xeon E5450 with a 40GB hard drive as boot on a tiny 250-ish-W TFX power supply. I haven't any way of testing the power draw, but the fans have never once ramped up for any reason. I'd estimate it at 50W idle, which is like, a single CFL. And I don't even leave it on all day - 8 hours at most, when I'm at home and not sleeping.
50W, 8 hours a day for 30 days is 12,000Wh. At $0.165/kWh, that's $2 a month, or $24 a year, maybe $25 if you factor in rising costs, taxes, inefficiencies, etc... if you live somewhere where power is cheaper, that's even more savings.
Say you saved $100 by going with the pfsense box (i.e. you pulled it from the dumpster or got a good deal on some old parts) versus buying a halfway-decent consumer router. The cost you saved effectively pays for 4 years of power for the pfsense box.